Azman Abdullah

Azman Abdullah was the ultimate torchbearer of bodybuilding in Singapore. In 1993, he became the first in Singapore to win a gold medal at the IOC-sanctioned World Games Bodybuilding Championships in the middleweight category, outmuscling 51 of the world's premier bodybuilders. He also won a gold medal at the World Bodybuilding Championships, the same year. His world-class performances won him the best Sportsman of the Year title (for 1993) for the second time.Won Mr.Universe in 1993. Winner of the Mr Singapore title on five separate occasions and the continent-elite Mr Asia five times from 1989 to 1993, he also scooped the prestigious Asian Pro-Am Classic in 1992, and was a multiple gold medal winner in the Southeast Asian Games in 1989, 1991 and in 1993, when the biennial games were held in Singapore.

In 1993, Azman made history as the first Singaporean to strike gold in the World Games Bodybuilding Championships. An event sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee, he defeated a staggering 51 of the world's top competitors in the middleweight category for the IFBB Mr World title. In that very same year, he also won gold in the World Bodybuilding Championships in the middleweight class to become Singapore's first ever IFBB Mr Universe after taking silver the previous year. His outstanding efforts earned him the Singapore Sports Council's Sportsman of the Year title twice in 1992 and 1993, and an induction into the Singapore Sports Council's Hall of Fame, upon which he was presented with a glittering trophy in the shape of a laurel wreath.

His achievements were unmatched by any other bodybuilders in Singapore. It was not by chance that Azman became a bodybuilding icon in Singapore; he attributed "self discipline" (including a strict diet regimen) and "the hunger to excel" in order to "achieve glory".